Beginning August 21, new AT&T customers will only be able to choose between unlimited text messaging plans starting at $20, or pay 20 cents for each text message and 30 cents for a picture or video message.

AT&T confirmed to AppleInsider on Thursday that existing customers with other text messaging plans, such as $10-per-month for 1,000 messages, will be grandfathered in. Customers who switch to a new phone will also be able to retain their old text messaging plan.

The carrier also confirmed that new AT&T customers who buy an unlimited plan starting at $20-per-month will still receive unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes to any other U.S. cellphone customer. The "Mobile to Any Mobile" offer launched in February, coinciding with the launch of the Verizon iPhone.

"We regularly evaluate our offers and are making some adjustments to our data and messaging lineup," a company spokesperson said. "Starting August 21, we're streamlining our text messaging plans for new customers and will offer and unlimited plan for individuals for $20 per month and an unlimited plan for families of up to five lines for $30 per month.

"The vast majority of our messaging customers prefer unlimited plans and with text messaging growth stronger than ever, that number continues to climb among new customers. Existing customers don't have to change any messaging plan they have today, even when changing handsets."

AT&T text message plan changes originally leaked to Engadget, have since been confirmed.

For those who opt to not buy an unlimited messaging plan, AT&T charges 20 cents per text message sent, while picture and video messages run 30 cents on a pay-per-use pricing system.

The last major change to AT&T's plans came in 2010 just before the iPhone 4 launched. The carrier began capping new data plans at 2GB for $25 per month, though like with the upcoming text messaging change, legacy customers with unlimited plans have been grandfathered in.

One big problem with iMessage: It is only on IOS devices. Most of the world is still not on IOS (though IOS market share continues to improve). iMessage only makes sense when you know that everyone you text with (now and in the future) is on IOS. That will never happen.

Telco text messaging (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) is device agnostic....this is a great feature and they know it...which is why they continue to raise prices.

One big problem with iMessage: It is only on IOS devices. Most of the world is still not on IOS (though IOS market share continues to improve). iMessage only makes sense when you know that everyone you text with (now and in the future) is on IOS. That will never happen.

Telco text messaging (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) is device agnostic....this is a great feature and they know it...which is why they continue to raise prices.

I guess I can always use iMessage and join a pay-per-use text plan.

IOS app Beejive. you can text most phones. Some cheap phones on sub networks like ntelos...wont allow ext to go through. But for your avg smart phone it's a non issue.

There's also a dozen and one text app thats a good workaround...google voice, IM+ pro...even YIM.

I can't believe how many suckers are willing to pay these ridiculous prices.

Yup. I am one of those suckers. I have four on my family plan, including 2 children. Two iPhones, 2 dumbphones. I have no choice but to get the unlimited family texting plan for $30/mo. Both my children are heavy texters on dumbphones. I have tried to find a way to eliminate this $30/mo. expense. No luck, so far.

GV interface sucks compared the Messages. I used it for a long time, but now that I got text messaging I could never go back. (That said, I don't pay for my phone plan, and if I did I would probably choose GV over $20/mo.)

One big problem with iMessage: It is only on IOS devices. Most of the world is still not on IOS (though IOS market share continues to improve). iMessage only makes sense when you know that everyone you text with (now and in the future) is on IOS. That will never happen.

Telco text messaging (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) is device agnostic....this is a great feature and they know it...which is why they continue to raise prices.

I guess I can always use iMessage and join a pay-per-use text plan.

That's exactly why AT&T changed their plan. Even though most of the world may not be iPhone users, most of AT&T's user base are. They want to make sure that people aren't canceling their text plans altogether when iMessage comes out. Being that a lot of people outside AT&T aren't iPhone users, they jack up the price of individual texts sky high to force you into an unlimited plan. IMO AT&T will only have the advantage until apple opens the iPhone up to more carriers in the us so that iOS can gain market share. I actually think the numbers are going to change dramatically once iPhone 5 comes out. I think verizon will be an even contender to AT&T.

Yup. I am one of those suckers. I have four on my family plan, including 2 children. Two iPhones, 2 dumbphones. I have no choice but to get the unlimited family texting plan for $30/mo. Both my children are heavy texters on dumbphones. I have tried to find a way to eliminate this $30/mo. expense. No luck, so far.

One big problem with iMessage: It is only on IOS devices. Most of the world is still not on IOS (though IOS market share continues to improve). iMessage only makes sense when you know that everyone you text with (now and in the future) is on IOS. That will never happen.

Telco text messaging (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) is device agnostic....this is a great feature and they know it...which is why they continue to raise prices.

I guess I can always use iMessage and join a pay-per-use text plan.

get textnow app i've been using for some time i have a number in my signiture i include my name cell num and text number 99% of my people have no trouble with it

granted my "num" has a non local area code, but its not that big a deal

my friend uses textfree has a local area code.

my issue with text free, is that when the person replies it come back to my regular messaging app costing me. so i switched to textnow

if textfree changed and i could get a local areacode maybe but still use an app

That's exactly why AT&T changed their plan. Even though most of the world may not be iPhone users, most of AT&T's user base are. They want to make sure that people aren't canceling their text plans altogether when iMessage comes out. Being that a lot of people outside AT&T aren't iPhone users, they jack up the price of individual texts sky high to force you into an unlimited plan. IMO AT&T will only have the advantage until apple opens the iPhone up to more carriers in the us so that iOS can gain market share. I actually think the numbers are going to change dramatically once iPhone 5 comes out. I think verizon will be an even contender to AT&T.

I wonder what they'll get rid of next, PPU texting or the unlimited plan.

You see, this phone system consists of a multibillion-dollar matrix of space age technology that is so sophisticated -- [ she hits buttons with her elbows ] even we can't handle it. But that's your problem, isn't it? So, the next time you complain about your phone service, why don't you try using two Dixie cups with a string? We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company.
surely these changes are a result of the impending release of iOS 5 and iMessage. at&suck wants to shore up their constitutionally guaranteed right to 12-13 Billion dollars a year in net profit.

I think it would be cheaper than what we are getting. They would probably go all data.

Thinking aloud...I'd pay 60 bucks for say 8gb of data. That would service all my data and call needs AND would be 30 bucks cheaper than what I'm paying now. You basically get 8gb to do with how you please.

They've been making their products very price competitive...I see them doing the same with skynet...i mean iNet.

AT&T confirmed to AppleInsider on Thursday that existing customers with other text messaging plans, such as $10-per-month for 1,000 messages, will be grandfathered in. Customers who switch to a new phone will also be able to retain their old text messaging plan.

This is a clear case where regulatory intervention is called for. At the very least, AT&T should be required to disable SMS/MMS entirely for an account at the customer's request. If they can't do that, then the government should step in and regulate pricing. No carrier should be allowed to force customers into expensive extra services that they can't control in the entirely uncompetitive wireless market that exists in the U.S. today.

I use the TextFree app regularly and it's 100% free, or you can use Google Voice which is also 100% free and works great. Only minor negative is with both (and others) you have to get and use a separate phone number for your incoming/outgoing texting. To me that's not a big deal just have to make sure everyone knows that's your SMS #(although both can also be used for phone calls). And you can tell AT&T to shove it!!

"The vast majority of our messaging customers prefer unlimited plans and with text messaging growth stronger than ever, that number continues to climb among new customers."

So if that is the case, that they believe everyone wants unlimited texting, then why force it? According to this statement, nearly will naturally select that option anyway. Oh, that's right, becasue they want to screw those of us who don't sit around sending text message all day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drhamad

Something to keep in mind... for those of you with family plans, AT&T offers unlimited texting/etc for $30 for the entire family plan.

This is a clear case where regulatory intervention is called for. At the very least, AT&T should be required to disable SMS/MMS entirely for an account at the customer's request.

You can do this already with a quick call to customer service. I did it. I'd rather communicate by smoke signal than by text message. My wife likes to have some texting capabilities due to friends of hers who insist on using it, so she gets 200 texts for $5/month and that works well for us. I'll be pretty mad if we ever have to upgrade to this new $20 plan with no increase in her actual usage.

...by the way... if you don't need unlimited texts, definitely switch over to the Messaging 1000 plan! Do it NOW! Save a few bucks each month. Why spend $20 for unlimited texting when you only send a few hundred per month?

One big problem with iMessage: It is only on IOS devices. Most of the world is still not on IOS (though IOS market share continues to improve). iMessage only makes sense when you know that everyone you text with (now and in the future) is on IOS. That will never happen.

Telco text messaging (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) is device agnostic....this is a great feature and they know it...which is why they continue to raise prices.

I guess I can always use iMessage and join a pay-per-use text plan.

There is only one person that I regularly get messages from that doesn't have an iPhone but even that one person easily means more than $5 a month at $0.20 a message. I would probably try to coordinate some other means of getting short messages with notifications.

How recent? It was there last summer. So was a 200 text plan for $5/mo, which was not referenced in that screen shot. So that means if I leave AT&T, I won't be coming back, because leaving means losing the grandfathered plan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2oh1

...by the way... if you don't need unlimited texts, definitely switch over to the Messaging 1000 plan! Do it NOW! Save a few bucks each month. Why spend $20 for unlimited texting when you only send a few hundred per month?

I'd think they're probably already on it. Why pay the extra if you don't use it?